Perth Personal Trainer – Scarborough Bootcamp – Home Fitness Workouts

I LOVE BREAKFAST!

I always have. I have woken up starving for pretty much my whole life, so that first meal of the day always makes me feel good. I know some people just don’t feel like breakfast, butI’ve never understood that. But over the last few years my breakfasts have changed dramatically.

Long gone are the days when I would load up a bowl until the cereal peaked over the crest of the rim before I proceeded to drown it in low-fat milk.

Long gone are the days when 4-6 pieces of toast would help fill me up when eating bacon and eggs.Long gone are the days I would eat scrambled eggs followed by a massive bowl of porridge with honey and fruit on top. Now I’ve entered a new stage of breakfast eating, caveman style.

These days breakfast is just another meal. It can be exactly the same as lunch or dinner. If all I have is leftover beef curry, then beef curry it is. And I feel plenty full after I’m finished with sustained energy to last me through until lunch.

I quite often dont snack between meals any more either. Don’t need to.

There are no more grains in my breakfast (because of gluten sensitivities), so most cereal and porridge which both contain gluten, are out the window. I also don’t eat dairy (lactose intolerance) so that makes things easier too.

So when people ask me what to eat for breakfast, they are often not too happy with the answer. And it sometimes takes a little longer to prepare. It’s so far away from the norm, that they just keep eating the same way they have done most of their lives.

But I’ve finally put together a short list of quick and easy healthy breakfasts which should supply you with enough energy to get you through until morning tea if not lunch. It may take some adjustment for a few weeks, but in the long run will do you good.

There are 7 different Breakfast Ideas with Recipes for each.

Six of them you can eat any day of the week and the other one is for after your workout. Or you could have it as a cheat meal on the weekend. But if you do a short, intense workout beforehand, it will help use the carbs much better and keep you burning fat throughout the day and on track towards your physique goals.

Trav’s Scrambled Eggs

Any Day Breakfast
2-5 free range eggs
1 diced tomato
half to one diced capsicum – any colour
half a small red onion finely diced
handful of spinach finely diced
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
a pinch of sea salt and pepper or any spices

Combine the eggs, spices and diced vegies in a mixing bowl and whisk them up until they are mixed through. Heat up the oil in a frypan on low to medium heat and spread it so the base of the frypan is covered. Add the contents of the bowl to the frypan and stir every minute until it cooks through. You may need to play with the temperature until you find the sweet spot for your hotplate. Alternatively let it cook through into an omelette. When it looks cooked eat it!

Berry Protein Smoothie

Any Day Breakfast
1 scoop or 3 tablespoons of protein powder. The only brands I recommend are Ladybird Women’s Whey and Boomers natural unflavoured protein.
50-100ml coconut milk. You may want light coconut milk or the low quantity if wanting to lose fat.
half to one cup of frozen berries – any kind will do
a handful of fresh spinach or a serve of vital greens powder – you won’t taste the spinach!
100-300ml water depending on how you like the consistency
ice cubes

Throw everything in a blender (not a stick blender) and blend on high until all ingredients are smooth. You may have to use the ice setting. Drink and enjoy!

Peri Peri Chicken & Vegetable Salad

Any Day Breakfast
Half to one chicken breast from an already roasted chicken – I usually buy these every few days and you can get free range ones from Woolworths
half a red and half a yellow capsicum or whatever colours you can find.
a handful of spinach finely diced
quarter to half a diced avocado depending on your size – ladies stick with the smaller quantity
half to one cup of diced and peeled cucumber
a pinch of sea salt and pepper and as much ground chilli, cayenne and peri peri seasoning as you desire
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

You can eat this cold or hot. I am lazy so cold usually wins but hot tastes better! Throw the diced veggies in a bowl with the spices. Heat the chicken up in a frypan on low to medium heat with the olive oil. Once it’s warm throw it in the salad and enjoy!

Protein Pancakes for 2

Post Workout Breakfast
1 cup of whole wheat pancake mix (or gluten free pancake mix)
2 heaping scoops of vanilla whey protein powder
¾ cup of low fat cottage cheese
3 egg whites (half a cup)
3 tbsp flax seeds
¼ cup of water
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil or organic butter

Place the egg whites, cottage cheese, flax seeds and water in a blender and process until smooth. Mix the wet ingredients together with the pancake mix and protein powder in a large bowl.

Cook the pancakes any size you like the in a frypan coated with olive oil or butter over low to medium heat. After pouring the pancake batter into the frypan, they will be ready to flip after bubbles form around the edges (about 5 minutes).

Bacon, Eggs With Grilled Tomato, Mushrooms & Spinach

Any Day Breakfast
2-4 free range eggs
1-3 rashes of lean bacon
a whole tomato chopped in half
half to one cup of diced mushrooms
a handful of fresh spinach
half to one tablespoon of organic butter
* for variety you could add a quarter to half a mashed avocado depending on your size – ladies stick with the smaller quantity. You may want to back off the bacon and eggs if you do, to limit your fat intake.

Heat up the butter in a frypan on low to medium heat and spread it so the base of the frypan is covered. Add the eggs to the frypan and fry or scramble them. Take them out before putting the bacon in, then adding the tomato chopped side down and the other veggies thrown together. Once everything is cooked take it out and eat it. If your eggs or bacon look too fatty you can sit them on a paper towel to remove some excess fat.

Scrambled Steak & Eggs

Any Day Breakfast
2 free range eggs
half to one normal serve of leftover cooked steak
one green capsicum
a handful of fresh spinach finely diced
half a small brown onion finely diced
half to one tablespoon of organic butter

Heat the butter in a frypan on medium heat. Add capsicum, onion, and spinach and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the steak and sauté another minute, then cover with the eggs and stir together until it all cooks through. Add a pinch of sea salt and pepper and some mixed herbs to taste.

Leftover Dinner From Last Night

Any Day Breakfast
whatever you’ve got left in the fridge

Grab the bowl or container you stored the leftovers in and heat it up in a saucepan or in the microwave. When its hot, eat it.

If you have a breakfast recipe which in loaded with protein, a little fat and a little carbs, please send it through to me. I’d love to share it with everyone!

Some of these breakfast ideas are from the following sources, so for more quality breakfast recipes like these, you can check out:

Precision Nutrition – John Berardi
The Renegade Diet – Jason Ferruggia
The Paleo Diet Cookbook – Loren Cordain

When you get sick you will do whatever it takes to be well again.

So you cut out whatever it is that may be causing you problems and do whatever the doctor says to get better. Problem is, when you get well again, you often revert back to your regular diet or habits and forget what the doctor told you.

It’s often the same thing with nutritionist or naturopaths. You start feeling better and you go back to your old ways.

Over the years I’ve been gradually replacing foods and habits that may compromise my health. A lot of them have been quite ALTERNATIVE and outside of what most people would believe or attempt to change.

I am glad that I have gone through the process as it’s helped me move further down the line to improved health.

Sure there’s been a few speed bumps along the way, including my current major one, but the more I study, the more I’m convinced we need to be keeping up with these changes.

So here’s my list of foods, drinks and habits to start switching.Some may be easy to change and some may be quite difficult to change. Some you just won’t do, but they are worth it in the long run.

If you are not healthy, your body may be more stubborn to change and not drop body fat or increase strength or muscle tone like you want it to.

1. Eat organic butter NOT margarine.

Margarine is almost plastic. It’s solid at room temperature and there’s some artificial stuff in there that you don’t want in your body. Even the ants won’t touch it. OK maybe just one, but he’s just window shopping. Organic butter is far better for you.

2. Drink filtered water NOT tap water.

With all the metals that are floating around in our water supply, you really need to cut tap water out. Heavy metals can build up in your liver and cause you all sorts of health problems. Getting rid of them is not a pleasant process.

3. Eat real foods NOT boxed or bagged foods.

Yes it’s gonna increase your food preparation time, but it’s gonna increase your health too. Just find some time, cook a bunch of healthy meals in advance and reheat them whenever you need a meal. It’s far more time efficient and ensures you don’t eat boxed food or take out garbage.

4. Drink from stainless steel or glass NOT plastic.

Plastic breaks down and leeches into the water which you then put in your body. What chemicals are going into the production of the drink bottles I don’t know, but if you can taste the plastic, you know you’re taking in chemicals.

Same goes for storing your food. You can buy air tight glass containers, but I know how you love your Tupperware collection. It’s gonna be tough to part with them, but will be better for you in the long run.

Chemicals block up your liver, the bodies detoxification centre. When the liver gets overloaded it causes problems such as muscle aches, headaches and migraines as well as more dangerous consequences.

We are exposed to so many other chemical pollutants than 20 years ago so the liver has to work overtime to keep us going. These chemicals then screw up our hormone levels too which can cause weight gain amongst other major health issues.

All chemicals are just as bad so minimise their use around the house as well as your everyday exposure to them.

5. Eat free range, grass fed or organic meats NOT commercial stuff.

Most commercial raised livestock is fed grains to fatten them up. Grains have been cross-pollenated over the years to increase yield which has screwed up the nutritional profile of the grain. So the livestock may be malnourished.

Some livestock isn’t given enough room to roam around and live the good life either, so they’re often unhealthy too. If sick livestock is being sold to us we’re in for some real problems. Not to mention the hormones which may be added. Of course they say they’re hormone free, but we never know.

6. Eat gluten free foods NOT foods that contain gluten.

Its nasty stuff. Gluten is a substance found in grains such as wheat, barley and rye. Dr. Tom O’Bryan who specializes in celiac disease & gluten intolerance, suspect 7 out of 10 people will have some degree of gluten sensitivity.

Here’s a quote from Vic Shayne on the Nutrition Research Centre website:

‘[Gluten] attacks your small intestines by destroying the villi (finger-like projections on the intestinal surface) and leads to the formation of tiny holes in your intestines. The result is that food particles leak into your bloodstream and your body’s natural defense system sees these particles as “foreign invaders.”
This creates two major problems:
1. You can’t absorb important nutrients, and
2. Your body seems to attack itself’

When the body starts to attack itself, you start to develop chronic health problems such as Leaky Gut Syndrome. That was one of the factors that contributed to my Chronic Fatigue.

7. If you must drink alcohol, drink vodka NOT beer.

Beer has gluten in it.

Beer can also raise estrogen levels, which is also bad for everyone. When hormone levels are pushed out of their normal range, the body starts sending weird signals around and health problems increase, gradually at first until they build up to a more noticable level where you must do something about it.

8. Eat organic, free range eggs and chickens, NOT caged.

I think you get the picture.

9. Eat fruits and vegetables from farmers markets, the local fruit and veg guy, or buy organic if you can, NOT the supermarket produce.

With the amount of chemicals and pesticides used, its no wonder there’s little goodness left in our food let alone potential poisons. And I’m sure you’ve heard about fruits being stored for months before being put on the supermarket shelf! That’s not natural.

I am guilty of this one as I just don’t have the energy to get to another shop. But I’m sure I could find the products I want online and have them delivered, so even I have no excuse. I even stumbled upon this website the other day which looks promising www.aussiefarmersdirect.com.au and this one this morning which I’ll be looking at more in depth over the next few weeks www.perthorganics.com.

10. Use butter or coconut oil for cooking NOT olive oil or anything else.

Many oils go rancid at high temperatures which leave you ingesting more bad stuff the body has to deal with. No wonder the liver is overloaded.

11. Use the stove or oven to reheat foods, NOT the microwave.

We’ve all heard the reports about microwaves being a potential health hazard, but some people continue to use them for convenience sake. I don’t like the way it warms half the food and leaves the other half cold either.

12. Make fresh vegetable juice NOT any store bought stuff.

Drinking fresh stuff means you know what’s going into it and you get all the nutrients without any breaking down beforehand. You also avoid the preservatives that may have been in there.

You also have avoided the plastic bottle that it was stored in. And you can experiment with different flavours depending on what foods you have on the day.

13. Use stevia or xylotol to sweeten your foods if you need to, NOT sugar or artificial sweeteners such as splenda.

Artificial anything should be avoided altogether as it is another danger to your body and more work still for the liver.

If you are reading food labels look out for sweeteners such as sucralose or number 955 or 950. I personally don’t like consuming any numbers, just food.

14. Drink raw, organic milk, NOT the regular stuff from your supermarket.

If you can get milk from healthy, grass fed animals then go for it. If not you can live without it.

Coconut milk is a good alternative but very high in fat so go lightly if you are trying to lose fat. Some people use soy milk instead but I wouldn’t advise it due to soy’s over processing and inflammatory nature.

Almond milk or rice may be ok, but they are often stored in long life containers which means there is some sort of preservative keeping them drinkable. I wouldn’t go there but you should do your own research and make your own mind up if you can’t find a replacement.

If you look at all these things and think ‘it’s gonna cost me a fortune’ consider this.

Last year I spent over $10,000 treating health problems that were caused by much of what was mentioned above. That is far more than it would have cost to sort my diet out and eliminate as many of these potential health hazards, had I known about them previously.

So I pass on my knowledge to you in the hope that you will start making some potentially big, uncomfortable changes.

Your body will thank you by working better, getting rid of niggling aches and pains, gastrointestinal problems and all sorts of other issues you’ve just accepted as permanent.

If you’re in a chronic state as some of us are, you may need some testing to reverse the damage. Just think how many years you’ve had some of these habits and you’ll see why it may take some time to fix the problems they might have caused.

Good luck and I’d appreciate your questions or comments below.

How many different diets have you tried in your life? I know I’ve sampled my fair share and I’m still stuck into one. The latest instalment started in August 2010, but since then it’s undergone a few tweaks along the way. This is normal and you should totally expect it, rather than be upset or frustrated because of limited progress.

Each of us has the same body more or less. The major differences, aside from appearance, are internal health often influenced by genetics.

So if two people of roughly the same height and weight go on the same diet and eat exactly the same thing, they often won’t lose the same amount of weight in the same time period.

One may require a little more carbs or fat or protein than the other. In the same way one person may have a food intolerance or allergy that prevents them from eating a particular food. Or they may have a gastrointestinal issue that requires the elimination of some foods to help the gut repair itself.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Confusing? It is for me so you have every right to be confused.

The whole fat loss game is one of the most confusing topics around. After studying countless diets, witnessing many transformations and watching some people bounce back to their old habits and bodies, it is an area I’m very happy to be working in despite its difficulties.

Fine Tuning Your Diet.

Weighing and measuring yourself

In order to know if you are making progress with any physical transformation, you must have a reference point.

Weighing yourself can be good but also can be bad. Scales are a depressing tool to many people so if you don’t like em, don’t use em. With my clients I use body fat percentage to check if the body is losing fat and/or gaining muscle. Either way it will indicate if things are moving in the right direction.

A better way is by measurements. Using a tape measure check your waist measurement and hip measurement as a minimum. These are the 2 most important markers for measuring fat loss, but not the only ones. You can also check arms and legs, bust, shoulders, etc, but remember to take multiple measurements at the same site to ensure you get the correct reading.

I find that if you check your weight, body fat percentage and or measurements weekly or every 2 weeks, you will can keep making small adjustments and moving in the right direction.

Keeping a food diary.

If your body is not changing, then you need to change something that you are putting into it.

If you don’t know exactly what and how much you are eating and drinking, how will you know what you need to change? A food diary will show you everything, as long as you write it all down. Then you go through the list and see what you may be able to swap or eliminate.

Your problem may be portion sizes.

You may be eating way too many carbs and not enough protein and fat.

You may be drinking your calories and destroying your perfect food week.

How much protein, carbs and fat should I eat each day?

It’s a tough question and varies for individuals, but here’s a traditional macronutrient ration from Bodybuilder and fat loss author Tom Venuto.

50-55% carbohydrates
30% protein
15-20% fat

Not everyone will drop fat with these numbers. You may have to increase the protein and fat and drop the carbs slightly. Some may do better just increasing the protein and dropping the carbs without changing the fat. Zero fat shouldn’t be attempted as fat is absolutely necessary for maintaining good health and normal bodily functions.

This is from Tom Venuto:

‘If you choose the low carb approach to dieting, the best method is to decrease your carbohydrates moderately. Never cut your carbs out completely! It’s not necessary, it’s not healthy, it’s hard to stick to and it’s no fun! It’s usually not wise to go to extremes in anything and this is as true for nutrition as with anything else in life: moderation is the key.

The “modified” low carb diet might look something like this:

40% carbohydrates
40% protein
20% fat’

Get your carbs from mostly fruits and vegetables and some unprocessed whole grains if you need them.

Get protein from predominantly meat, fish, eggs and protein shakes if you don’t have time to prepare or eat real food.

Get your fat from avocado, coconut and olive oil, fish oil and small quantities of nuts and seeds.

Another approach is higher carbs on heavy training days and lower carbs on non-training or light training days. This is a more advanced technique but one I’ve used in the past with great success.

Reading the nutritional information on food packaging.

If you don’t know what you are eating why are you surprised you look the way you do?

If you believe what the media labels ‘health food’ you’re in for a big surprise. The closer you look the more you will notice what is really in those health foods. Some of these foods are so calorie dense, that a small serve can sabotage all efforts to eat well for the week.

Read the label for how much carbs, protein and fat you get per serve.

Stay away from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives. This stuff will make you sick. Diet drinks and artificial sweeteners are not good.

Many foods labelled ‘low fat’ are high in carbohydrates (often sugar).

The more often you read, the more you will understand.

If it’s a fresh product without a label you can look it up on www.calorieking.com.au

Weighing your food.

This is not always necessary but will help you in determining serving sizes.

A serve of meat is roughly the size and thickness of your palm, but how many grams of protein is that? I couldn’t tell you. But the scales and www.calorieking.com.au could.

Want to check that you are not eating too much rice at dinner time? Weigh it, or check the label for how much a cup is and work it out from there.

Cheat meals, the 90% rule and why you should be abide.

Cheat meals help you keep your sanity. By the time it gets to the weekend, your discipline wanes and you know you want something

bad. We’re all the same. But you should plan it out.

If you are gonna eat out Friday and Saturday nights, then schedule those nights as your cheat meals and do your best to eat well all day Friday and all day Saturday and go back to strict eating on Sunday.

The 90% rule is not a short term fix just to lose weight. It’s there to keep you healthy so you live a long life. If you are not healthy then you will not be able to achieve your goals in any area of life. Put your health first and aim for healthy eating 90% of the time.

Always come back to the 10 food rules.

If you are on a diet or not on a diet, you should always abide by The 10 Food Rules. Even on my diet which basically tells me which foods I should eat and which ones to avoid, I still stick to the food rules.

By doing so I’ve dropped to a consistently low body fat and have sustained energy (balanced blood glucose levels) rather than eating foods that cause an insulin spike followed by a crash.

They are very simple and will help anyone lose weight without a diet. There is plenty written about them on the blog and they should be referred back to regularly.

Your body is like any high performance car. It needs to be tested and tweaked to work at its optimum level and when it does, everything works better. Make a few tweaks and you’ll keep making progress.